Note 22 — THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN.

John 20:31. This declaration makes it unnecessary to discuss the various theories which have been proposed, such as that it was written to supplement the other Gospels and supply their defects, or to refute certain Gnostic heresies, or to commend Christianity to the disciples of Oriental philosophy and the like. These may, or may not, have been subordinate aims of the writer: the main design he clearly indicates, and it is the design here indicated which affords the key to the true interpretation of the Gospel as a whole.